Der Berliner Künstler Julian Charrière ist der meistbeschäftigte seiner Generation
Seine Themen sind Natur und Erdgeschichte. In diesem Jahr hat er fünf Ausstellungen auf vier Kontinenten. Woher kommt der große Erfolg? Und wie schafft er das bloß?

The artist Julian Charrière weathered 19th-century clocks in
limestone caves and under waterfalls to remind viewers of our
connection to nature.

There is a particular elegance in the way Julian Charrière approaches catastrophe: never head-on, never didactic, but through a slow drift across temporal scales that quietly destabilize our certainties. His collaboration with Ruinart unfolds precisely in this suspended register, where deep time seeps into the present and renders the contemporary moment strangely provisional. Beneath the vineyards of Reims lies the memory of the Lutetian Sea — a submerged world whose residues persist in chalk, fossils, and now, in Charrière’s work, in sound, image, and matter itself.

Seit etlichen Jahren ist Julian Charrière in Galerien und Museen omnipräsent. Schon 2011 sind seine Arbeiten in der Berliner Galerie Dittrich & Schlechtriem und 2015 in der Galerie Tschudi im Engadiner Zuoz ausgestellt. Heute bewerben sich zahllose namhafte Museen um seine Arbeiten und seit Mitte März ist „Midnight Zone“ die mit 48 Arbeiten bisher größte Einzelausstellung des Schweizers, im Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg zu sehen.

At Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Julian Charrière constructs a sensory and epistemic environment in which deep-sea ecologies, resource economies, and image regimes collapse into one continuous field.

Charrière’s multimedia works are a profound synthesis of art, environment, and science, emphasising the crucial role of water in sustaining life on Earth. This exhibition not only showcases the sensual and metaphorical dimensions of water but also addresses pressing political issues. Among these concerns are water pollution, acidification, the alarming melting of glaciers and polar ice caps due to climate change, and the risks posed by deep-sea mining to oceanic ecosystems.

French-Swiss artist Julian Charrière has been chosen as the next headliner at the Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) in Hobart.
Charrière will present his first solo exhibition in Australia in Tasmania from June 6, 2026, to March 29, 2027.

From ice expanses to the ocean’s depths, the artist situates his work within a broader dialogue between contemporary art and science. In anticipation of his upcoming solo exhibition at Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany (March 14 – July 12, 2026), he explores how environmental forces and rigorous research intertwine to redefine humanity’s role within planetary systems.

Julian Charrière brings the sounds of the ocean to Ruinart’s chalk cellars in Reims. Julian Charrière’s sound and light installation, ‘Chorals’, joins the worlds of environmental science and culture.

Die Kunst des Abtauchens: Julian Charrières Recherche nach dem verlorenen ozeanischen Gefühl

Während auf der UN-Konferenz in Nizza über die Zukunft der Ozeane gestritten wird, eröffnet der Künstler Julian Charrière in Basel die passende Ausstellung: eine große Erzählung vom Meer, aus dem wir alle kommen.

On the chalky soil of Champagne, time collects in layers. Ancient sea beds, slow-growing vines, and old-world rituals compound into to a future shaped by climate, conversation, and care. Maison Ruinart, with its nearly 300-year-old history, turns again towards the natural world for its latest artistic collaboration. In 2025, the house invites Swiss-born, Berlin-based artist Julian Charrière to contribute to its ongoing series Conversations with Nature. The result is a stirring meditation on coral, collapse, and continuity.

Julian Charrière seeks to cultivate a cultural consciousness around ecosystems undergoing irreversible transformation. Focusing on the entanglements between human and nonhuman systems, he explores how art can serve as a bridge between scientific understanding and emotional connection.

Comment est né votre projet pour le Palais de Tokyo ? Comment s’inscrit-il dans votre pratique ?
Julian Charrière: J’ai toujours eu une fascination pour les paysages lithiques*, cachés sous la surface, inaccessibles, qui, d’une certaine manière, nous dépassent, mais sur lesquels tout repose. Ces paysages souterrains ont permis notre évolution en tant qu’espèce. Nous avons toujours extrait des profondeurs de la Terre des matières qui nous ont permis de nous élever, de dépasser les frontières imposées par nos corps. Du caillou ancestral au monocristal de silice, l’histoire de l’humanité est une histoire de notre lien au monde lithique.

In an interview with Whitewall, Charrière discussed the monumental significance of 2024 and the many important shows and projects he has opened, highlights from his recent shows, the work he has done with “Calls for Action,” and what is coming next.

Arpenter des zones irradiées, escalader des icebergs fatigués, écouter les entrailles de la terre : l’artiste chercheur Julian Charrière explore la nature et s’y confronte pour en restituer les blessures, les murmures et les pleurs, montrant la vérité de la planète à l’heure de l’anthropocène. Rencontre à Berlin dans son atelier, avant un solo show en octobre au Palais de Tokyo, à Paris.

To investigate the world’s formation and future, Julian Charrière explores landscapes through the lens of geological history and discovers poetry in material processes that connect us to the natural world. In his vision, science verges on the uncanny, a mystical fusion of light and materials.